It's New Year's Eve and the elf perched on John Justin Mallory's desk wants his missing unicorn back. And that's the easy part. Mallory's wife has run off with his partner, his detective business is in ruins, and the mob's out to get him. With so many wonderful things happening, Mallory decides that a case involving a trip from reality might not be so bad. After all, what more can he lose?

Stalking the Vampire: A Fable of Tonight

It's Halloween, and John Justin Mallory's partner, Winnifred Carruthers, has been so busy preparing for the biggest holiday of the year (in his Manhattan, anyway) that she seems short of energy and pale. Mallory is worried that she's been working too hard. Then he notices the two puncture marks on her neck....

Stalking the Dragon: A Fable of Tonight

It's Valentine's Day and private detective John Justin Mallory is planning on closing up the office early and taking his partner, Col. Winnifred Carruthers, out to dinner, since he's sure no one else will do so. But before he can turn off the lights and lock the door, a panic-stricken Buffalo Bill Brody visits them. It seems that the Eastminster pet show is being held the next day, and his dragon, Fluffy, the heavy favorite, has been kidnapped.

Threshold: Boundary, Book 2

When the strange fossil she'd discovered ended up giving her a trip to Mars, Helen Sutter thought she'd gone about as far as any paleontologist would ever go in her lifetime. But when you've also married A.J. Baker, overconfident super-sensor expert for the only private agency in space (the Ares Corporation), and your best friend Madeline Fathom Buckley is a former secret agent who's just signed on as the chief of security for the newly created and already embattled Interplanetary Research Institute of the United Nations, there's always somewhere farther to go.

Boundary: Boundary Series, Book 1

A daring and resourceful paleontologist uncovers something at the infamous K-T boundary marking the end of dinosaurs in the fossil record - something big, dangerous, and absolutely, categorically impossible. It's a find that will catapult her to the Martian moon Phobos, then down to the crater-pocked desert of the Red Planet itself. For this mild-mannered fossil hunter may just have become Earth's first practicing xenobiologist!

Santiago: A Myth of the Far Future

Bandit, murderer, known to all, seen by none...has he killed a thousand men? Has he saved a dozen worlds? His legend is as large as the Rim itself, his trail as elusive as a wisp of starlight in the empty realms of space. The reward for him is the largest in history.

The Fortress in Orion: Dead Enders, Book One

The Democracy is at war with the alien Traanskei Coalition. War hero Colonel Nathan Pretorius has a record of success on dangerous behind-enemy-lines missions, missions that usually leave him in the hospital. Now he's recruited for a near-impossible assignment that may well leave him dead. At the cost of many lives, the Democracy has managed to clone and train General Michkag, one of the Traanskei's master strategists.

DabOfDarkness says:"Good start, but where's the action?"

Publisher's Summary

It's New Year's Eve and the elf perched on John Justin Mallory's desk wants his missing unicorn back. And that's the easy part. Mallory's wife has run off with his partner, his detective business is in ruins, and the mob's out to get him. With so many wonderful things happening, Mallory decides that a case involving a trip from reality might not be so bad. After all, what more can he lose?

Mallory soon finds that he might lose it all as he enters a Manhattan that just couldn't be. Dodging nasty gnomes and mischievous felines (not to mention rampaging elephants down Fifth Avenue), he discovers that the malevolent demon Grundy also seeks the fabled beast, and will stop at nothing.

Mallory is no Philip Marlowe, and will have to do some pretty fancy footwork just to stay alive. For if the Grundy wins, not only Mallory's life but his world will be forfeit.

What the Critics Say

"The crisp dialogue and imaginative setting will have many fantasy readers wanting to revisit Manhattan's magical side." (Publishers Weekly)"Mike Resnick is a journeyman in a world of apprentices, one who knows his craft. His name on a book guarantees a solid story and believable characters, constructed with imagination and grace. Most importantly of all, it guarantees entertainment." (Raymond Feist)

I downloaded this one on a whim as I was looking for something fun and different, something a touch 'Robert Asprin' (now if they would only make the M.Y.T.H. books into audio here!) and I was very pleased with this one.

This book is very much like one of those old detective movies/radio shows and the author sets a fine and fun setting and the narrator does an excellent job with his voicing of the characters.

Nothing serious here at all, but if you are looking for a fun, light and interesting listen I would recommend this instantly. I've already downloaded 'Stalking the Vampire', the follow up to this series and am eagerly awaiting to have the time to listen to it.

If you don't know about cheap detective novels, you might want to read up on them a bit. My father loved Mickey Spillane and Boston Blackey, or more recently John D. McDonald's, Travis Magee. That is the tradition that Mike Resnick uses to write about the hidden Manhattan. "Stalking the Unicorn," really does do a great job at taking a humorous jaunt. The genre isn't about deep character development, that's not the point of this kind of literature. It is more about just enjoying the story about someone's experience. It is like buying someone a beer to hear a humorous story. You don't need details about their life, it is just a story.

Peter Ganim does a fine job at reading. Through the entire book I kept thinking his interpretation of the main character's voice sounded familiar. Then it dawned on me, Steven Wright. If you like deadpan humor, you are going to love Ganim's reading.

this book is a lot of fun. I at first didn't care for the narrator, but he grew on me. The real issue I have with the book is the pacing. It drags in the middle where it seems to lose the plot and turn into a tour of New York and it's strange and interesting residents.

Still, this is a fun listen, and is followed up by a superior sequel. I look forward to the third book in the trilogy.

I was really looking forward to hearing this, one of my favorite Resnick titles. That anticipation ended before the end of the first paragraph. The reading is one of the worst I've heard on Audible. He hesitates in the wrong places, puts emphasis on the wrong words, and is very slow in parts. For example, when the sentence has 'he said', there will be a long pause before those words. Very distracting -- it's impossible to stay immersed in the tale. Very disappointing. I'll avoid this narrator.

My advice is to forgo the audiobook for the printed version. Too bad. This is such a fun romp to read. Resnick turns the tropes and cliches of fantasy and hardboiled detective tales and makes them fresh.

Similarly to Resnick's Mutiny books, don't read this book for fleshed out characters. This is a beach book. I'm not saying it's bad but it is a very classical "Hero" story. The only twist is the setting, which is really the only reason to read it. I found the reader enjoyable for the character.

Your report has been received. It will be reviewed by Audible and we will take appropriate action.

Can't wait to hear more from this listener?

You can now follow your favorite reviewers on Audible.

When you follow another listener, we'll highlight the books they review, and even email* you a copy of any new reviews they write. You can un-follow a listener at any time to stop receiving their updates.

* If you already opted out of emails from Audible you will still get review emails by the listeners you follow.